Night in the Backstreets (after battle)

<Was that... the last of them...?>

Current time is 0424 hours... about ten minutes until the Night in the Backstreets ends. But... we can relax now, given that we survived the third wave.

The buildings are also no longer shifting. Stability has been restored.

We... did it, Executive Manager.

B-bloody hell, finally...

The Sinners all collapse to the ground from exhaustion.

... There was a kezhan here, but it's gone now. Despite the fact that we haven't moved at all from our initial positions, there wasn't even a trace of it having been here.

We realized that we'd been relocated on top of a roof, as though we had all just awakened from the dream of sleeping in a building that never even existed.

That... that was one helluva battle, man... I thought I was done for. Haaah, this is killing me...

I don't know if we could've survived that if that hair-obsessed loon wasn't here to draw some of 'em away... Hah, I guess we've got something to thank him for.

... Hmph. So that's all they've got in a head-on battle.

... Art thou acquainted with these foes, young Ryōshū?

O.F.C. I've heard of them.

Their scent of blood, 'twas...

'Twas faint, but... It cannot be. No.

'Twould be best to not linger overlong on this thought...

Why not? Dig deeper.

Letting ephemeral inspiration slip through your fingers is the death of creativity.

I said I won't linger on it.

... Don't rush me.

Hmph, whatever.

How uninspiring.

<... Guys, now's not the time to bicker.>

Ryōshū and Don Quixote's words were indeed unnerving, but we'd have plenty of time to discuss that once we returned to the bus.

... If we can return in one piece.

<Shi Yihua...>

I'll be frank. That was impressive.

I thought for sure you'd have been long swept away by now.

Shi Yihua must've been waiting somewhere nearby to watch us die, because it did not take long for him to reappear before us.

Perhaps they agreed upon a new deal while we were fending off the waves of Sweepers... the 'Mao' branch and Zilu were both approaching us in an intimidating gait that contrasted with their earlier passivity.

Dammit...

Executive Manager, we've had too many high-risk, high-fatigue battles in succession.

I hate to offer such disloyal advice… but it may be wise to avoid this battle at all costs.

That... don't seem like... an option to me...

I look around.

Most of the Sinners were either dead, trampled and chopped to small, unrecognizable pieces... They were barely holding on at best.

I can bring them back. I always do.

But when they've completely surrounded us... I don't know if I can bring them back in time to protect me. They might just cut the Sinners down as soon as they get back up.

Wellll~ this was well within my predictions.

I can simply finish off anyone that hasn't been swept away!

Now, a stage is set for my ascension. For the next ten minutes, no sweepers, let alone anyone, is coming here. You know why? Because who in their right mind would leave their homes when the Night in the Backstreets is still ongoing!

And looks like even that annoying idiot from the Middle's been taken care of, too... somehow. Bahahaha!

You... how much of this was your plan?

How much, you ask? The whole thing, of course! All the way back to that construction site that blocked your path!

The one who deceived that unscrupulous fool of your company? It was me! The one who put the pitiful Qingtao, who doesn't even have a family name, with you? It was me! The one who contracted the Tri-axe Office to challenge you for a duel? It was me!

And guess who it was that relayed your real-time location to all kinds of forces in the District... yes. It was me.

And this trashy lodging without a residential permit? Hahahaha! All devised by none other than yours truly, using Q Corp.'s technology!

<... I see.>

…….

Ahaha! Ohh, it's so good. It was so good, wasn't it? What a perfect strategy.

What did you think, aren't I great? Aren't I so utterly clever?

This is exactly why I deserve to be the next Family Hiera -

A folly, to speak those words.

An unfamiliar voice echoed from the dark.

There was neither animosity nor hospitality - only utter serenity, and nothing else.

The speaker approached us, walking under the narrow ray of moonlight that shone between the shifted buildings.

In his hand was a decapitated head illuminated by the pale light.

Blood dribbles from the severed neck, and the wide-open eyes remain frozen in its final moments - filled with utter terror.

He walks toward us, in step with the drip, drip of the blood.

... It can't be. Jia... Qiu?

I... I knew Yihua was working for someone. It was him...

W-why do you have Qingtao's head...?

... I have brought back the wayward pet to his master; that it may once again be leashed.

There is a serpent, my lord.

Leave it. We needn't shoo it away.

W-wha...

You were loaned the Heishou Pack so that you may simply get in their way, no more...

Hmm, I see. Was there a sudden change of heart, once you held the leash in your hands? That to return to the Shi family's side would be to your benefit?

N-no... you... you knew everything all along?

What, I must ask, is 'everything' to you?

Your vision is too limited for my lord's wisdom to comprehend; the wise fails to peer through the narrow-sighted eyes of the fool.

But... if by 'everything' you refer to how you feigned abandonment from the Shi family to secure my lord's trust...

... indeed, it could be said that we do know everything.

... Heeugh...!

D-don't kill me. Please, please don't kill me...!

I-I will share with you my most guarded secrets. At the S-Shi family, it, uh -

... Right! The Ten Blades of the East! Yes, the Thum -

But Shi Yihua could speak no more.

For a serpentine blade struck from the umbra and separated his head from his torso with ease.

... Little Yihua, have I not warned you time and again to guard your tongue against the creeping desperation?

I believe that we have gathered the intelligence we had hoped to collect, my lord.

You needn't pursue the serpent, Zilu.

…….

His voice boomed as he commanded those who appeared to be his officers. The tall, built man took a ponderous step from the shadows and stood before us.

With an enigmatic expression, he wordlessly looked at Yihua's decapitated head, now lying on the ground - then at us.

... It was as though he was gazing upon the clouds or blades of grass.

I shall take them with me.

He picked up Yihua's decapitated head before gesturing at his officer with a nod.

Ah, here it is, my lord. Wrap their heads with stasis wraps, and decomposition won't set in anytime soon.

And with those bandages, he begins to wrap them up in a practiced motion.

... He does not pay us any heed, as though we weren't even worth the attention.

Return to me once you are finished here.

Yes, my lord.

H-hold on. You, you can't just show up out of nowhere and -

…….

He did not reply, his eyes gazing, yet reflecting nothing but hollow emptiness.

And just as he had emerged from the darkness, he vanished into the shadows, carrying two decapitated heads.